It’s happened to tons of people. They take the step of faith to start a new small group in their church. They’ve prayed, prepared, and hoped only for no one to show up to the first meeting. Nothing feels more deflating than that kind of experience.
So what’s a small group leader to do when this happens to them? Here are a few ideas.
- Tell representatives at your church. Whether you report to a staff person or a small group coach, tell them about your struggles. They probably have ideas to help with your problem.
- Make some small group invite cards. Make some simple cards with date, time, location, and meeting information. If you don’t have a card to use, try the free interactive pdf files on this page. Just fill it out, print, and go.
- Pray. Ask God for wisdom and insight regarding the people you should invite to your group.
- Personally invite people to your group. Take the bold step of actually asking people to come. Far too many leaders have suffered from the “if I build it they will come” mentality. Nothing is as effective as personally inviting people to your group!
- Build your group around the people you already “group” with. If you think about it, you are already “grouping” with people. You have friends you like to spend time with on a regular basis…that’s your group. Ask those friends if you can start “grouping” more intentionally and grow together spiritually.
- Don’t give up. Whatever you do, don’t throw in the towel too soon. Satan does not want you to make disciples. He wants your spirit to be crushed and your heart to become weary. Refuse to fall victim to his lies. Stay the course, get help, try harder, pray more, and invite people. It will be amazing what God will do through your commitment.
